Yelling at "Park"

"Park" is a third or fourth grader in the lower level class. He is a bit rambunctious at times, completely unresponsive at times, and other times really tries hard yielding slim results. He isn't without talent. When he was in second grade assigned a homework assignment to draw a clock. He drew a picture of his bedroom with the clock in great detail. In the summer, he drew a picture of my co-workers jeep after seeing it one time. He had all the details of the grill, headlights, rims, and so forth.

"Park" brings me back to when I was working in Las Vegas with Col. Joe and his son Dr. Walker who told West Point stories. One in particular about the famous American painter James McNeill Whistler.

" James Abbot McNeill Whistler, the future painter, got booted in 1854 for being too impudent in engineering drawing class. Assigned to draw a bridge, he insisted on drawing three boys fishing from the side of it; when ordered to erase them, he then drew three little headstones by the river bank." -John Blackwell

That's "Park" for you. I lost my temper after leaving the room on a couple occasions and returning to "Park" running, and jumping on the desks. He is pressing his face against the observation windows making some interesting faces. He was so focused in his antics that he could not hear his classmates warning him that I was standing there watching him. He shed some tears after talking to my co-teacher and said he was sorry. I too said I was sorry for losing my temper. This used to be a daily occurrence when I first started.